Supporting device for covers of cabinets



' L. K. scoworm.

SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR COVERS 0F CABINETS..

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1915.

r 7 1,324,435. Patented Dec,9,1919.

Wzesas v 1 van Zo r/ Am A? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS K. SGO'I'FORD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CHENEY .TALKING MACHINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR COVERS OF CABINETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LOUIS K. Scor'rono, a citizen'of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supporting Devices for Covers of Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to means for holding in open position a cover or door and for permitting a convenient closing of the cover or door when desired.

In the use of various closures having covers or doors which must be temporarily retained in open position and then permitted to close, such for instance as the covers of talking machine cabinets, it is desirable to provide means for holding the cover open and then for permitting it to close which may be controlled without the inconvenience incident to manually adjusting a fastening device to hold the cover open and to again adjust'the device to release the cover and permit it to close.

The primary object of my invention is to provide means for holding a cover or door in open position and for permitting the same to close, which may be operated entirely by the movement of the cover or door.

A further object of my invention is to provide a cabinet, or other container, having a cover, with means for holding the cover open and for permitting it to close which may be actuated by the movement of the cover in its normal path relatively to the opening which it controls. A

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device for holding a cover or door open and for permitting it to close, which will be simple in construction, efficient in operation, and convenient in application.

My invention will be more fully disclosed hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodied in a convenient and practical form, and in which;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the upper portion of a talking machine cabinet equipped with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view showing the parts of the retaining mechanism in position to permit the cover to be opened;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the parts in the positions to which they are moved when the cover is lifted slightly beyond its normal open position; i

Fig. 4.- is a similar view showingthe parts in position to support the cover in its normal open position;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the po sition of the parts when the cover has been lifted beyond open position preparatory to closing it; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Similar reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Reference character A indicates the upper portion of a talking machine cabinet within the up er end of which is a horizontal partition E, above which is supported the table C for holding the record disk. D designates the cover of the cabinet which is pivoted at one side and is adapted to be raised to permit the insertion or removal of a record, and to be closed when a record is in position to be played.

Inasmuch as my invention is not restricted in its use to a cabinet for talking machines it is unnecessary to further describe the construction of the cabinet in connection with which I have illustrated the embodiment of my invention herein disclosed.

Reference letter E designates a stay rod pivotally connected at its upper end at e to the inner surface of one side of the cover D a short distance from the hinged edge of the cover. The stay rod extends freely through an opening F in the table B adjacent the side wall of the cabinet beneath the side of the cover to which the upper end of the stay rod is connected. The lower end of the stay rod is reduced in width, as shown at E, so as to form a shoulder e where the reduced portion E merges into the portion of the stay rod of normal width.

designates a plate which is secured to the side wall of the cabinet A immediately below the opening F through the table B, any suitable fastening devices such as g being employed. G designates a stud projecting inwardly from the plate G adjacent the path of movement of the rear edge of the stay rod E. Pivotally mounted upon the plate G on the opposite side of the stay rod E from the stud G is a cam disk K having a plurality of cams M, M and M and intermediate adjacent cams substantially straight peripheral surfaces K, K and K of a radius shorter than that of the cams. The distance between the axis 7c of the cam disk K and the stud G is such that when the disk is in position for one of the cams M, M or iv 3 to aline with the stud G, the distance between such cam and the stud is less than the normal width of the stay rod E. When, however, the disk K is in position for one of the surfaces K, K or K to oppose the stud G, the distance between such surfaces and the stud is slightly greater than the normal width of the stay rod, so that the latter may freely pass between the disk and the stud.

Located on the cam disk K are pairs of laterally projecting pins Z and Z one of such pairs being located adjacent each of the surfaces K, K and K Pivoted to the lower end of the stay rod E is a pawl H having spaced lugs 72/ and k projecting to the rear of its pivot h and adapted to engage a pin j on the lower end of the stay rod to limit the oscillation of the pawl about its pivot.

L designates a gravity pawl pivotally supported upon the plate G in position to be oscillated by the pins Z and Z when the disk K is rotated counter-clockwise and to prevent the clockwise rotation of said disk by reason of its position with respect to the pins Z and Z The operation of my invention is as follows: When the cover is in the open position shown in Fig. 1, the stay rod and cam disk K are in the position shown in Fig. 4, in which the cam M is opposite the stud G and the stay rod is locked in position to hold the cover open, owing to the cam M underlying the shoulder e on the stay rod, or in other words, the distance between the cam M and the stud is less than the width of the stay rod above the lower reduced ortion E thereof. The pawl L is engaged by the pin Z immediately below the same and hence prevents the rotation of the disk K in a direction to permit the surface K to move opposite the stud Gr, and hence insures the stay rod being removably supported in position to hold the cover open.

When it is desired to close the cover it is lifted slightly beyond its normal open position which causes the pawl H to engage the overlying pin Z and to rotate the disk K from the position shown in Fig. t to that shown in Fig. 5, in which the surface K is opposite the stud G and a space thereby afiorded suflicient for the stay rod E to freely pass downwardly between the stud and cam disk, thereby permitting the cover I to close. The gravity pawl L, through the engagement therewith of the pin Z immediately below the same, prevents the disk from being rotated in a clockwise direction during the downward movement of the stay rod incident to the closing of the cover.

V'Vhen it is desired to again raise the cover and support it in open position, it is lifted slightly beyond its normal open position which causes the pawl H to move upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 2 into engagement with the overlying pin Z and to thereby oscillate the cam disk K to the position shown in Fig. 3 where it is retained by the gravity pawl L. The cover is then allowed to move downwardly a slight distance until the shoulder e on the stay rod rests upon the cam M which during the opening movement of the cover was oscillated to a position opposite the stud G.

From the foregoing explanation it will be evident that I have invented an improved mechanism for retaining the cover or door in open position, and for permitting the cover or door to close, and which is actuated entirely by the movement of the cover relatively to the opening which it controls. My invention, therefore, obviates the necessity of manually adjusting a fastening device in order to retain a cover or door in open position, and again adjusting such fastening device to permit the door or cover to close.

As my invention is capable of use for supporting covers in raised position without regard to the particular use of the structure, I have in some of the following claims used the terms cover member and frame member to broadly designate the generic use of my invention, the term frame member meaning the frame around the opening which is opened and closed by the cover.

lVhile I have illustrated my invention as applied to the cabinet of a talking machine, yet it will be understood that it is not limited in its use thereto, but is capable of practical application to covers or doors of any structures, and while I have described in detail the specific form of my invention herein illustrated yet I wish it to be expressly understood that I contemplate changes in the form and proportion of parts, and the substitution of equivalents, when occasion may require or when deemed expedient.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a casing, a cover therefor, a stay rod pivotally connected to said cover and projecting into said casing and movable relatively thereto, the lower end of said rod being reduced forming a shoulder, a member fixed to saidcasing adjacent the point of entry therein of said rod, and adapted to be engaged by said rod, a rotary member pivoted to the casing adapted to engage the opposite side of said rod and having spaced radial cams thereon, projections on said rotary member, and a pawl on the end of said stay rod adapted to successively engage said projections as the cover is opened and therefore rotate said member step by step to project said cams into the path of the rod below the shoulder thereon and remove same from beneath said shoulder.

2. The combination with a cover member, of a frame member around an opening with which the cover member cooperates, and mechanism including a rotating cam'actuated by movement of the cover member from closed position to a position beyond its normal open position to hold said cover member open, and actuated by a movement of said cover member from open position to a position beyond the normal open position to permit said cover member to close.

3. The combination with a cover member, of a frame member around an opening with which the cover member cooperates, a stay rod connected to one of said members and movable relatively to the other member when the cover member is opened or closed, a fixed surface on one side of said stay rod relatively to which it moves, retaining mechanism engaging the opposite side of said stay rod, and a projection on said stay rod operated by the movement of the cover member to extreme opened position to actuate said retaining means to hold the stay rod in position to support the cover member open, or to release said stay rod to permit the cover member to close.

4. The combination with a cover member of a frame member around an opening with which the cover member cooperates, a stay rod interposed between said members, a rotary cam located adj aeent the path of said stay rod, and means interposed between and operated by the relative movement of said cam and stay rod for rotatingsaid cam step by step to alternately grip said stay rod to hold the cover member open and release said stay rod to permit the cover member to close.

5. The combination with two relatively movable members, of mechanism for holding said members in separated relation comprising a stay rod connected to one member and movably engaging the second member, a rotary cam disk located adjacent said stay rod, a pawl on said stay rod engaging said disk to rotate the same step by step, said disk having spaced cams thereon to alternately lock said stay rod to and release it from said second member, and means for retaining said disk in the position to which it is moved by said pawl.

6. The combination with a cover, of a structure having an opening with which said cover cooperates, a stay rod connected to said cover and movable relatively to said structure, a stop on said structure engaging one side of said stay rod, a cam disk on said structure adjacent the other side of said stay rod from said stop, said cam disk having a plurality of peripheral cams adapted to successively engage said stay rod to prevent the movement thereof in a direction to permit said cover to close, a pawl on said stay rod adapted to engage said disk and rotate it a distance equal to one-half the space between adjacent cams each time said cover is moved beyond its normal open position and means for maintaining said cam in the position to which it is moved by said pawl, whereby said stay rod is alternately locked to and released from said structure upon successive movements of the cover beyond its normal open position.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

LOUIS K. SCOTFORD.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR S. AGNEW, Gno. L. WILKINSON. 

